Once In A Lifetime

Chapter One

Have you ever thought that you'll never find the right person? Well that's what I thought, up until the moment I met him — until I met Tyler.

***

My mind is blurry and I don't know what to do about it. I can hear a noise that's drowning out my thoughts. What could it be?

I could feel myself waking up from what seemed to be a horrible nightmare. I opened my eyes, and slowly but surely adapted to the light that was shining through my window. That's when I realized that my alarm was going off — that was the noise I was hearing.

My alarm read 7:44, I had slept through my alarm.

"Shit." I spat out.

I was going to be late for work yet again. I know Caroline, my boss, won't be too intrigued about this. This was the second time this month. I really need to get my shit together. If I'm late one more time, I'll be out for good.

Pulling the covers off of my body, a shiver ran down my spine as I felt the cool draft of my room. I had to get ready and get ready fast.

Rushing out of bed, I stumbled on a pair of dirty jeans which I had yet to throw in the wash. I picked my outfit that I would wear for the day; casual business attire. The same thing I wear almost every other day.

Throwing off my nightgown in a rush, I quickly put on my black dress pants and white button up blouse. Looking at myself in the mirror, I looked like hell. My hair was in huge knot on top of my head. 'This will be fun to take out.' I thought to myself.

"Here it goes." As I prepared myself for the pain I was about to experience. I was able to pull the elastic out that was almost tied to my head as I winced in pain. 'Thank God that's over.' There was a sigh of relief.

Brushing all the other knots and tangles out of my hair, I pulled my long, blonde hair into a quick ponytail. I took a quick look at myself in the mirror, I could look worse. But I had a feeling, deep down in my gut that today will be a horrific day.

I stumbled down the stairs in a hurry, almost making a nose dive into the wall at the bottom of the stairwell. 8:06, I still have lots of time. I rushed to the kitchen and grabbed a green apple from the colourful bowl on the dining room table, and tossed it into my purse. Now I'm ready to go.

***

Traffic is always a nightmare, especially if you're working downtown Toronto. The clock on my SUV's dashboard read 8:53, I was a whole seven minutes early. Woohoo!

After honking at several cars in front of me that stood there stopped at the green light, I pulled into the parking lot, parked my SUV and just sat straight up in my seat. I took several deep breaths. In through the nose, out through the mouth. I did this to calm my nerves, especially after a morning as dreadful as this one.

"Today is going to be a good day." I kept telling myself. I was really hoping I'd at least get some good karma in my life right about now.

After giving myself a pep talk, I got out of my SUV, and started walking towards the entrance of the very large glass building. I walked to the front doors and pulled them open.

I could see my boss, Caroline by the front desk where she stood with a tall, striking, young man. He was wearing a black dress suit, white button up dress shirt along with a dark blue tie with a funky design on it. Caroline's eyes darted in my direction, she took a quick look at the Rolex watch on her wrist, and gave me a thumbs up — I was in the clear.

Caroline then turned to face the young man as she smoothed out the creases on her black pencil skirt and continued to talk to him.

'This seems very serious.' I thought to myself. What could all this be about?